Can't really blame the game though, as I enjoyed all the parts of it that I've tried (except PvP of course rofl). Its only fault is that maybe it is too much like WoW, although in many, many ways it's much better.

Just didn't have the time or the urge to play a theme-park MMO. Enjoyed the quests, the dungeons / adventures, the challenges. Awesome combat, awesome housing, interesting crafting system, even the lore got me interested a bit by the end. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to try a new MMO.

There's plenty to do at level 50. The attunement process alone will keep you busy for at least a few weeks. Then you have the raids and of course crafting housing. There are plenty of achievements to try, challenges to complete, stuff to gather, so you'll probably revisit some lower zones as well.

Haven't tried Warplots at all, really curious how that will be, as the concept is very interesting.

Ditto what mynsc said. I spent most of May/June playing it and it gave me so much of the theme-park MMO blues that I lost interest. On top of that, none of my friends were playing and my guilds didn't turn out how I'd hoped.

But like mynsc also said, if you ever liked WoW, it's a pretty good bet that Wildstar will at least be worth the box price for you.

I like how you think - this is kind of where my mind has been living for the past year since the reset, and you did a nice job of fleshing it out in words imo. I think that last quoted part about him playing one mode of many is a bit of a stretch, but heck, it could easily be true.

Blizzard, Y U NO do BlizzCon in some larger convention center? Did they ever mentioned that? They're so in love with Anaheim

Sorry, it's not happening in EU Anaheim is the closest venue to their Irvine offices. They can just pack up and drive over to the convention center, then go back to their offices to work the same day if they need to. Any other location would probably cost them a whole lot more, tickets would be more, and I'd bet that we'd feel a lot less Blizzard presence too. One of the amazing things about Blizzcon is that it feels like you're hobnobbing with the entire office, from the top brass to the mail-room peons. Everyone is there! I just don't see that happening if they have it anywhere else.

As lead character artist for Blizzard’s next amazing game, you will lead the team that brings future legends to life.

Your unique skills as lead character artist allow you to be an unstoppable combination of visionary artist, gamer, and leader. As an artist, you’ll collaborate closely with the art director to define the vision for both the characters and organic modeling. As a gamer, you’ll be inducted into a cabal of designers, engineers, and artists whose singular goal is to create truly epic hero moments in gaming. Lastly, you’ll draw on your veteran experience to guide a team of the most talented artists in the industry in creating a legion of characters to inhabit this new and exciting world.

If the opportunity to help create Blizzard’s next iconic gaming experience is a challenge you’ve been waiting for, we definitely want to talk!

You’ll work closely with level designers and environment artists to imagine new lands into existence; just as your knowledge of anatomy and expression will be pushed to new heights designing the heroes, villains, and the creatures between to inhabit this all-new world.

Responsibilities

Create character concepts including character sheets, movement studies, and detailed breakouts for equipment and weapons.

I love to read too much into these job postings and imagine the possibities, but what do you guys think this all means?! Could this still be the newly revamped Titan, or some other new game?

I firmly believe that every AAA MMO released in the last 10 years has its merits, including ESO - thousands, if not millions of people, have played each game and garnered enjoyment out of them because of the blood, sweat, and tears of each of their respective developers. Why do we feel the need to stomp on other people's enjoyment? I will admit that I've occasionaly teased the fan of X or Y MMO, but I've never honestly meant to discourage anyone from playing a game they love. It saddens me that we're at this place where each new MMO that arrives on the scene is treated like a sports team from a rival city that must be insulted and derided by the local home team fans.

Calling all you Wildstar fans! Unite and crush all the hopes and dreams of ESO players! And where's your spirit at ESOers?! Let's hear some BOOOOS for those wicked Wildstarians! SWTOR lovers?! Go DIAF and learn to embrace the dominant game of WoW! Etc...

Stop bashing other people's choice of game. Stop defending your choice of game. Stop fueling the vitriol that keeps appearing in reviews and forums throughout the internet. It's all just ridiculousness. Play the games you want to play.

Great topic jezbelle, and thanks for stirring up some new conversation. I had a good chuckle with "Convince your friends to quit." You should get yourself an avatar at this point so we can identify you better.

While you make many interesting points, I think one thing in particular is a big leap.

If there was something fundamentally flawed with the game, it would have been absurdly easy to detect early on.

Why can't professionals change course and realize fundamental flaws after a decade? Even in a static environment, and even with best laid plans and intentions this can happen. Add onto this the shifts in revenue models in the last 5+ years , then games altering their base structures to play in this new market and you already have one example of a reason Blizzard may have chosen to revamp Titan. It all comes down to profit as you say, so if Blizzard designed Titan without an ingenious way to implement a F2P revenue source within the game then that alone could account for a reset. I'm not sure this is what it is, merely pointing out that professionals can and do change things after a long time. It's not necessarily easy to see flaws early on, especially in a landscape where the rules change underneath you. Heck, it took me 15 years of playing my instrument to realize a fundamental flaw in what I was doing, and another 5 years to fix it. I'm sure I'll find many more along the way and need to go back to square one yet again.

I do agree with most of the other stuff you have mentioned, especially that WoW is doing pretty damn well all these years later. If the WoW ship was sinking and HotS and Hearthstone weren't on the table then you can bet your BALLS (see what I did there?) that there would be some major pressure to push Titan out the door.

The question is, would that be good for us as consumers? Would this old version of Titan have been ready for 2014? Who the heck knows now. Blizzard didn't go down that path. I for one am glad that if there was even the slightest inkling that Titan wouldn't be the next "It" of gaming that they make a second pass. Add on to that the unparalleled expectations that the next Blizzard MMO live up to and surpass the success of WoW, and well... you've got a recipe for disaster if they don't do it right. It has to blow people away from the very start in every way or Blizzard is going to take a huge hit.

So sure - I agree with you that the sooner WoW dies the sooner we get Titan. But I don't want it to die before it has run its course because I want Blizzard to have the time they need to live up to our unrealistic expectations of it.

I wouldn't recommend this unless you're ready to test an alpha game, because it most definitely is. But holy flying squirrels Batman! This game world is incredible. It's easily the most immersive MMO environment I've ever experienced. I spent 30 minutes soaking it all in before I felt the slightest inclination to figure out any game systems. It truly feels to me like I'm front and center in a Pixar film or Avatar. With that said it has a lot of work ahead. Here is my initial reaction that I posted on the Alpha forums -

Did you feel that the customization controls were intuitive and easy to use?
Character customization was standard and intuitive and I had no problems navigating through the options. Templates with names/descriptions of the various options might be a nice feature in place of nondescript sliders, and overall I would love more robust customization in all areas - the choices currently feel a bit shallow overall. It would also be great to have a more variable zoom function rather than just the two settings. This game, more than any MMO I've experienced before, begs for more special snowflake action in the character creation process. Here's hoping for some of that as the game progresses!

Was the camera easy to use and did it compliment the customization of your character?
Overall the camera felt nice and responsive, although I immediately wanted to change my zoom/perspective and it took me a little trial and error to find the appropriate command. An invert Y-axis option and max distance slider might be nice cards to play in the future.

When you arrived in game, what was the first thing you tried to do?
I fiddled with my camera controls and then found my bearings in this new world via the map. I noticed the big metal-looking thingamajig in front of me of course, but I ignored it because I just couldn't resist the pull to run around exploring the terrain right away. I mean holy **** guys 'n gals - the immersion in this game is unbelievable. Between the character models, the world design and effects, and the music... MMO gaming heaven. Frankly, I haven't ever felt such a strong urge to randomly explore a new world while daydreaming of its possibilities. It took me ages before I even had the inkling to try and figure out how to mine, chop, dig through my bags, get a haircut, or anything else at all. It was glorious - truly one of those gaming moments players seek out but only rarely find. Kudos to you all for that.

Were the character controls easy to understand?
Yes, and no. The controls are pretty standard, although strafing is a bit wonky right now. I would love to be able to bind it to one key (or re-bind any keys for that matter) rather than having to hold down the right mouse button with A/D. I would love to see a key-binding menu in game very soon (I couldn't find one if it's in already). We could all quickly find and memorize the various functions within the game, even re-binding them if desired.

Was the function and interaction of the Portal Spire and the crafting station in the hub clear?
If you're talking about the big object in front of me when I zoned in then no, not at first. I ignored the thing entirely, only returning later when I couldn't find any other means of managing the resources I had acquired. Once there it was clear enough. If you want to avoid the situation I had (although it didn't bother me at all) then a more direct means of steering new players to the hub would be a definite plus.

How was your first foray into mining and tree harvesting?
The collection process felt pretty cool overall. Mining felt more interesting because of the visual removal of each piece of material as you went, but the trees exploding was a nice touch.

When you started crafting was the process clear?
I wouldn't say it was clear; I would say that it required some trial and error to figure out the basics. I wasn't turned off by this, but if you're going for a more obvious, transparent, walk-through type process then it certainly wasn't that for me. Right now the crafting functions aren't immediately obvious as to how they work except for maybe the add block. Having the various crafting command functions laid out somewhere in a list would be nice. Overall, I would say that more tooltips and demonstrations would certainly be welcome for the majority of us beginner builders.